The Collector
by Fangirlnumbertwo
Summary: Machi and Hisoka start working together after the events in The Illusionist. After an awkward first meeting, how do they deal with each other?
1. The Collector

They had just finished the most recent job for the Ryodan. While not even half of the group participated, policy dictated that everyone was entitled to equal portions of the loot. Here they were, in some part of the Yorubian continent where banks prioritized clients' privacy over everything else.

"I'm signing some forms and wiring the money, you can come with me inside or wait out here." Machi looked worse for wear after the mission, but the woman was trying to hold it together. It had been months of playing cops and robbers with the mafia.

"I'm curious, I think I want to see our bank accounts. After all, I'll be working with you for a long time", Hisoka chirped. It threw Machi off that the magician never seemed to fall into a slump. Here he was, with a broken arm and a few missing teeth after a drummed up fight with the mafia's thugs. He had the air of a man who just arrived from a long, happy vacation.

"Follow me. After this, we can both go. Shalnark's letting us use the blimp. We can drop you off anywhere that's convenient for you." Machi turned on her heels and opened a gigantic steel door leading to the bank's corridors.

The bank's interior reminded Machi of the morgue. The walls were painted a clinical white; apart from the concierge's desk, there were no other furnishings. Unlike other banks that showed off their prestige by hanging expensive paintings in their lobbies, this one was decidedly spartan. The bank had no need to show off; more than half of Yoruba's wealthiest stashed their wealth here. The bank's secrecy law made it a haven for criminal organizations and tax evaders.

They walked past the concierge who gave them a polite smile from her desk in the middle of the long corridor; the vaults were located in the far opposite end. Their shoes made tapping sounds as they walked over the bare flooring.

"What do you do for fun, Machi?", Hisoka asked, walking with his good hand in his pocket. The other one, still healing, dangled awkwardly on his side.

"What do you mean?", she asked. It wasn't a question she heard often.

"I mean, what you do for fun. Something that makes you happy. Apart from the Ryodan, that is."

She thought about this as she worked through the retina and fingerprint scanner. It seemed like a perfectly simple question, something people asked each other on a regular basis, no doubt. But she wasn't sure how to respond.

The squarish steel door to the Ryodan's private bank vault opened. Inside was a fairly large and windowless room, about the size of a studio apartment. Metal drawers lined the walls from ceiling to floor, each one containing something valuable and can only be opened with a specific set of combinations. Only Shalnark and Kuroro knew how to open every one of those. A few stray pieces of jewelry and solid gold littered the floor; the last spider to wire money must have been in too much of a rush to stuff the trinkets in their proper places.

"Ooh. How shiny." Hisoka picked up a diamond necklace and turned it over in his hand. "Shiny new toy", he said with mirth, as he held it up to the artificial light coming from the ceiling.

"We can't take anything from this room without permission from the others, by the way." She approached an ATM-like device against the opposite wall. From the touch-screen monitor, she could track how much money came in and other details. She took out a list of account numbers and proceeded to wire money to each one. She turned Hisoka's question over in her mind.

"Training. I enjoy nen training."

"Hmm? Is there anything you like that isn't related to nen?" Hisoka asked off-handedly, as if he were more absorbed with inspecting every shiny object he could find on the floor.

It was unlike Hisoka to prod. During the months they had worked on the mission with Nobunaga and Korutopi, he never asked her or anyone personal questions. He only listened when someone in the group gave instructions and rarely gave inputs of his own. He mostly hovered in the background until a strong opponent came along. Nobunaga's good-natured attempts to draw him out with jokes were usually met with sarcastic remarks, something that the swordsman didn't pick up on. Instead, he concluded that Hisoka was a friendly guy.

"Sometimes I go to raves." She suddenly remembered how they first met. She was intoxicated, but a rough tumble with the magician and an awkward second meeting created a deep impression.

"Of course. You enjoy raves very much, how can I forget." Hisoka was smiling up to his ears.

She kept her back turned to him. She was sure she had his full attention now.

"That was fun, you know. I enjoyed it very, very much. I wouldn't mind giving it another go." When she didn't respond, he pushed. "Attending raves, I mean. And it's great to see you get very...what's the word for it? Enthusiastic?"

Machi looked at him coolly. "Everyone's enthusiastic when they're high." Minutes later, she was done with the last of the accounts and made to leave. "Take those things off. Shizuku will put them away when she comes here next month."

He took off the teardrop earrings and necklaces that he had been trying on. He loved the feel of the weight on his earlobes. He remembered that Machi nibbled the soft piece of flesh almost obsessively when they were at his apartment. He concluded that she had a very funny idea of foreplay.

Shutting the door behind them, they walked the whole length of the corridor.

"We should go to a rave tonight. For old time's sake."

"Not feeling it."

"I can get you in the mood if you let me." His good hand played with some bungee gum.

Machi casually regarded the concierge as they went out. "Not if you stuffed a kilogram of ecstasy down my throat." Hisoka folded at the suggestive mental image.

Standing in front of the bank's entrance, Machi scanned the area for a taxi cab.

"Well, Machi?"

"We should drop this", she said, "We work together. We don't even really know each other."

Machi wasn't exactly a conservative woman by any standards, and she had been involved with men before. There was just something about the magician that screamed danger, something that signaled for her to keep away. This isn't new to her, though, since just about any Ryodan member gave off that vibe. But another thing that bothered her was how he threatened some deep, primal part of herself - something she revealed to him during an episode of extreme intoxication, and consequently, abandon. That was one of the very few times where she gave up control.

_Not this one._

"I'm going back to headquarters. Stay out if you want." She crossed the road without giving him another look.

The door to the vault was already sealed and not all Ryodan members had access. Hisoka thought about the things hidden inside - gems, gold, some intricate jewelry. He wouldn't be surprised if they were rare pieces. As with everything that eludes him, he shrugged it off, humming himself a tune as he thought about his shiny new toy.

_The events in "The Collector" take place after "The Illusionist", a fanfic that the same author posted in 2011. This story makes references to Illusionist, which can also be found in _

_Please leave some reviews and constructive criticism. All opinions are highly appreciated. _


	2. The Mission

"I want you to infiltrate the clan's ranks and give us access to the collection. Shalnark already hacked their systems and it's been verified that the items we want are in one of their York New vaults. I know we can always use force and that's more your style, but we're currently unsure of the nature of this vault."

Kuroro paused to take a sip of coffee. Machi observed that he was wearing casual clothing that day, though of course "casual" for the Ryodan leader meant a cashmere sweater and trousers, with plain leather shoes in place of his designer boots. Even Kurotopi, who was seated beside him, traded her doctor's coat for a plain dress and tied her hair back to reveal a face with homely features.

Pakunoda and Nobunaga made up the rest of the contingent. The five of them looked out of place in the run-down warehouse they called headquarters.

"What about this vault?"

"It's not your typical lock and combinations type of vault. It's sealed by nen. We'd need someone with extremely strong hatsu to unlock it, someone like Uvogin or Nobunaga. There could be traps. At least that's what our tipster tells us."

"Tipster? I thought Shalnark did the research." Machi raised an eyebrow. She didn't feel comfortable when "outsiders" dipped their fingers into Spider business.

"We have an informant from within the organization, Machi. That's how we caught wind of the items. Then Shalnark did research to verify his claims. I'm sure you'll understand if I'd rather not reveal who this person is. This individual has already severed ties with the Triad but they can track him down for sharing confidential information. We need to protect our sources."

She felt irate. Half an hour into this meeting and pieces of the puzzle were already missing. Sensing her frustration, Pakunoda spoke up. "We were gong to dismiss his claims until Shalnark's research and my ability supported the info he's given us. The tipster promises to tell us more if we play along. And we have reason to believe that he knows about the Kuruta Tribe."

This made Nobunaga laugh. "In that case, I get it. This guy's been around."

Machi knew that Pakunoda meant to alleviate her doubts, but a person who had connections to both the York New Triad and the Kuruta Clan had to be bad news. Obviously this was a guy who ran with bad company, his newest entanglement being with the Genei Ryodan.

"I just don't think - -"

"We should trust the leader, Machi. In all the years we've worked together, he's never betrayed us or anything." Nobunaga looked at her. "Besides, if one of us got captured, we could be forced or deceived into revealing who the tipster is."

"I'm not saying I won't cooperate. I'm just uncomfortable with the idea of an outsider meddling with our business. I just have to ask – if this person can blow the whistle on the Triad and the Kuruta, what makes you think he won't screw us over too?"

Kuroro nodded. "And that's a perfectly reasonable concern, Machi. First, I want to assure you that this person will not meddle with our operations; we'll see to it that his role is confined to that of an informant and nothing more. As for him selling us out, it's something we already considered. He doesn't know about Pakunoda's ability and she can check his memories for the first sign of betrayal. You know that we don't take traitors lightly in this group."

"You mean you meet this person regularly?"

"Yes, Machi. Whenever he has new information or to substantiate anything that Shalnark's research touches on. Do I have your confidence?"

She could only manage a cryptic response. "Of course."

"I'm glad. The first thing we do is attend their gathering. They're having a black tie event tomorrow night in honour of their new "godfather" - the new head of the Triad. Our tipster put us on guest list. Keep your ear on the ground. Whichever vault they're keeping the items in, they have two assigned keepers. Determine who they are and bring them to us. The group is in transition and the new godfather has already appointed his choice of keepers."

As the rest of the group discussed other specifics, an alarm went off in Machi's mind. Her intuition always worked like a jilted lover – the more she ignored it, the more it wouldn't leave her alone.

"And Machi, kindly remind Hisoka that group meetings are just as important as the actual execution of our plans. Hopefully he'll join us next time."

The primary item of interest was cylindrical in shape and no more than ten inches long. It was made of titanium. Its body was made up of twelve rotating disks where codes where embedded on the surface. The codes themselves resembled hieroglyphs or some ancient form of writing. Shalnark surmised that it's possible to come up with a total of 4, 519 combinations. Curiously enough, the inside of the cylinder was hollow; one could peek through the hole running through its length.

Everything else on their "shopping list" consisted of the usual items spiders stole for their value: oversized porcelain vases dating back to fallen dynasties, gems and paintings. Kuroro made it clear, however, that these items were negligible if they had to prioritize the titanium cylinder. It had the moniker "God's Telescope".

Machi had already gone through Shalnark's documents. As usual, it was heavy on the details and it seemed he really made the most of the leads the tipster provided. There was one problem though, something that frustrated her – the Triad's recent change in leadership meant that the organization has been changing officers, passwords and other sensitive data, as was expected during routine turnovers. It meant that the more crucial info the tipster gave could be outdated by next month. The fact that the internal restructuring happened because of a mutiny lead by the new godfather gave the Triad even more cause to be paranoid.

She tossed the papers to one side; the event started in two hours. She could hear Nobunaga getting ready in the other room. She refused Pakunoda's suggestion of evening gowns. The uniform, made up of a long-sleeved shirt, black vest and trousers would be more comfortable than a skin-tight dress. She pulled her hair back into a neat bun and left headquarters; she sneaked into the catering van and passed herself off as one of the hired waitresses.

The Triad had money and they liked spending it. They organized the event in a rented mansion; the ballroom, where a handful of early guests stood around sipping champagne, was decorated to look like a scene straight out of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Machi didn't miss the reference to the Shakespearean piece; silver artificial trees lined the walls to mimic an enchanted forest, while a marble fountain was erected in the middle of the room. Acrobats dangled from the ceiling. The lighting was dimmed down and an orchestra played in one corner. She thought the whole thing was corny and pretentious, though she was glad waitresses weren't required to dress up as fairies or something.

Nobunaga looked passable when dressed up and clean-shaven. He was paying attention to a hesitant female guest. For her part, Machi tried to look busy walking around the room with a tray of drinks. It gave her ample opportunity to eavesdrop on guests' conversations:

"But that is such a tacky dress..."

"You know I can't leave my wife just yet. It's not that simple."

"It's simple. Kill him off. If there's no case then there's no prosecution."

An hour passed and she didn't picked up on anything crucial. The big players of the Triad haven't arrived; as with any party, the VIPs preferred to be fashionably late. Kuroro, Pakunoda, Hisoka and Shalnark were also nowhere to be seen.

After a while, Machi resigned herself to a corner. She eyed the drinks on her tray and thought about downing a couple to combat boredom. Just then, she saw a flicker of bright movement in her periphery.

A loud voice proclaimed "What light, yon, the window breaks!"

_What the hell...? _She turned to see someone moving in her direction.

Hisoka's idea of elegant evening clothes consisted of a long, metallic gold cape and red, knee-length bloomers. He had a crown of yellow roses on his head. A pink circle adorned each of his cheeks and his eyebrows were lined with green shading. His leather boots added three inches to his height; he towered over Machi as he took a champagne glass from her tray.

"What beauty dost thee possess, heavenly barmaid!" He flipped the cape in a dramatic gesture and finished the drink in one go. She wasn't impressed.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream, eh? It's perfect for Walpurgis Night. Shouldn't you be dressed as a nymph or fairy? I know I almost dressed as a satyr. Good thing I didn't, or I would be competing with them." He pointed to the acrobats; the guests probably thought Hisoka was part of the show.

"Are you familiar with Walpurgis Nacht?"

"Not really."

"It's a night when witches and other creatures come out to cast spells and collect people's souls and hearts. But before they can take your heart, they have to get to know you first. Like nen, there are conditions for magick. So they change shapes, pretend to be beautiful men and women to lure you in. Very terrible, really. But also a little romantic."

She knew better than to listen to embellished stories, but thankfully Hisoka went on to talk about more banal things like going to therapy for his broken arm. She nodded every now and then to indicate she was listening, until she noticed that the room had gone silent. The double doors opened as an entourage of women in black suits entered the room. She recognized the godfather right away – Shalnark had a file on him. He was a man in his prime, still in good shape compared to Mafia leaders whose physiques were already deteriorating from vice and inactivity.

Faustus Fay had small, slanted eyes that made it look like he was always squinting. His squat frame suggested blunt strength. He made slow but deliberate movements and spoke in a soft voice. Applause greeted his entrance. Guests approached him to kiss his hand and cheeks like he was the pope. He received them graciously.

One of the women in black suits stepped onto the podium to regard the attendees. This was Fay's wife and right-hand woman, Morrigan. Her black suit and plain looks did nothing to distinguish her from other bodyguards. She was over forty and the lines around her eyes made her look tired. She had a competent air about her that reminded Machi of Pakunoda.

"Our hearts go out to comrades and allies who stood by us throughout the mutiny. After the struggle, we now honour our new godfather. The ceremony begins in a few moments – for the godfather to guide us through many ordeals and challenges, he must be given God's Telescope."

The female entourage shuffled as Fay took his seat at a table. He was saying something to his wife when Machi saw one of the bodyguards carry a small safe and place it on the floor. After the woman exhibited some formidable hatsu, the safe flew open to reveal a glass case.

Just as she took a step forward, the lights came off. She heard some guests laughing like it was a prank. She could still sense the woman's hatsu. When the power came back on a few seconds later, she heard someone scream.

Machi deftly elbowed her way through the commotion, no doubt crushing a few of the guests' rib bones in the process. When she got close to the entourage, she saw Fay face-down on the table, blood gushing out his mouth and ears. He was dead, and there was a large whole in his chest.

The safe was empty.


	3. The Aftermath

The Spiders' headquarters in York New is a building that used to serve as public housing. When the new mayor took over, the former administration's projects were scrapped. The building was boarded up and the tenants relocated to the rural areas. The government was going to demolish it and turn the area into a commercial district but the stock market crashed. Without any forthcoming investments, the site was abandoned and remained unoccupied for over a decade until the Ryodan leased it under the name of a fake Yoruba-based corporation.

The benefit was that Ryodan members had individual rooms to themselves. Shalnark and Kuroro drew up plans to make it functional so they had running water, electricity and Internet connection – Shalnark insisted on having the latter two so he can do his research.

Machi retired to her room after a meeting with the others. There was a thin mattress on one corner and some clothes were strewn across the floor. A piece of glass hung on one wall to serve as a mirror.

Kuroro, Shalnark and Pakunoda arrived an hour after Fay was found dead. Nobunaga detained the woman he had been talking to – she was one of the Triad's new keepers. Machi relayed the events to other Ryodan members and they scoured the grounds until morning for any signs of the Telescope or the person who stole it. All the guests, acrobats and servers were subject to hours-long questioning by the Triad, something the Spiders managed to evade. Hisoka was nowhere to be found.

So far the job was airtight – whoever was behind it planned the whole thing carefully and left no apparent traces. Even Shalnark was stumped for the first time. He theorized that it can only be an inside job; it was too clean. Or it was carried out by someone with a stealthy nen ability. He was hunched over his laptop, going over names of guests, doing a background check on the catering services company and examining the blueprint of the mansion. The venue had no CCTV cameras.

Hisoka arrived at headquarters around noon minus the metallic cape and with his hair in great disarray. He entered through the back door in a nonchalant manner, sat on a stoll and put his feet up on the kitchen table. When Machi picked up on his aura, she went downstairs to speak with him. He regarded her with a big smile.

"Good morning."

"It's noon. Where were you last night? We were ringing your phone."

"I met a pretty young lady to take home."

_Or something else?_

When Machi gave him an icy glare, he changed his story.

"I was detained by those goons for interrogation. It was terrible. They really roughed me up so we had a big fight."

"Kuroro wants to speak with you. He's reading upstairs."

"Are you upset, Machi?"

She left the room without another look at him. Playing back last night's events, she figured he must have disappeared when she got distracted by Fay's entrance. What he was up to during those moments until his appearance at headquarters was still unaccounted for. She entertained ideas. If he ever killed Fay, it shouldn't be a problem – the Ryodan wanted nothing to do with the man, though he could have been a good source of information. If he took the Telescope then her job should be easier, since he's a Spider. So what bothered her, exactly?

The second premise depended on Hisoka's willingness to share the Telescope, of course, and it presumed that he was being honest with the group. Intuition told her he wasn't.

"Death threats weren't new to Fay. He led the mutiny. A long list of suspects range from loyal supporters of the former godfather, whom Fay had murdered, to rival organizations that want to send a strong message by killing off the new leader."

Shalnark scanned the room to see if everyone was paying attention. Then he continued. "I'd rule out the idea of rival organizations assassinating him. Though it's not entirely impossible, it would mean war – something that crime syndicates can't afford right now. The international police is becoming more aggressive and organized crime groups would be better off showing them a united front."

"That leaves us with the old godfather's supporters; only a few of them attended the event to keep up appearances. The others have distanced themselves from the Triad, though of course, they could have easily hired someone to do it. A clever nen ability, like a specialization or manipulation type, can also allow any one of them to kill him from a distance. We need to figure out who did it. It's apparent that the person who killed him also has the Telescope."

_So is the tipster one of the former godfather's supporters? That's one good reason to sell out the Triad._ Machi stared blankly at the notes Shalnark gave her. She looked at Hisoka, who look bored and miserable. He held her gaze and flashed her the ace of hearts.

"That's something I still don't get. Why do we want this Telescope so bad? How much is it worth?" Nobunaga asked as he polished his katana. These were the most brilliant questions Hisoka heard since the mission started. He noticed that Ryodan members rarely asked Kuroro to justify missions; they'd question the method from time to time, but never the rationale. They were such good little troopers. There was something almost drone-like about them.

Kuroro spoke up. "In the market, the cylinder won't sell for anything. In fact, only a junk shop would accept it. But it's a key within a key. Once we figure out the right combinations, it can access the Triad's main vault and numerous financial accounts. The cylinder's value is also more symbolic than anything; for the Triad and the feuding crime groups, anyone who wields it is perceived to possess wisdom and power."

"Right." Shalnark became more enthusiastic. "And as you already know, the cylinder can have up to thousands of combinations. It was designed by a famous mathematician using old numeric rules and principles. If you can crack its code, you can crack pretty much anything . As legend goes, deciphering the cylinder helps you discover the fundamentals that all codes and patterns follow. That's if you get it right."

"Imagine what that means for us. We'd be able to hack any system or open any bank vault. It's a good alternative if we can't use force, which is the case with the main vault. If you use force or some means other than the Telescope, it will self-destruct. This last detail is something we got out of our hostage."

"Besides" Shalnark snickered "We could use the money to buy a private jet. I'm sick of flying commercial."

"Missed me, Beth?" Nobunaga entered a windowless room to bring the hostage some food. Pakunoda followed behind him. They had new questions to ask.

The woman was in her thirties with mousy brown hair and a thin build. She had a nervous air about her and had a habit of biting her nails. Tonight she seemed resigned to her situation and did nothing to resist her captors. As she modestly ate the food they served her, Pakunoda put a hand on the woman's right shoulder.

She could ask any question and extract the answer from a person's memory. While science already knows the capacity of a healthy person's short-term memory, long-term memories were still a mystery. No one knows just how much memory a person can store in a lifetime – the human mind, in Pakunoda's opinion, was still the most fascinating vault in the world.

Her ability worked in two ways: she could ask definite questions, which conjured specific memories. Open-ended questions, on the other hand, conjured a torrent of memories that could help her understand a person, her motives and actions. It sometimes made her feel guilty that she could take a shortcut to getting to know somebody; so years ago, she decided on principle to never use it on comrades and friends. Kuroro, however, was the only person who didn't mind subjecting himself to her ability in a casual manner. He hid nothing from her and her complete knowledge of him made it difficult for her to be objective in the work they did together.

Pakunoda asked Beth both kinds of questions. The first one gave her a surprising yet reasonable answer. The second gave her insight into the woman's life, her long career as a mathematician and her family's connections with organized crime.

Pakunoda saw an opulent home, most likely in uptown York New. The blue roses printed on the wallpaper were so vivid that they almost made up for the house's seeming emptiness. In the bedroom, there was a girl of about five or four. She was wearing a chiffon dress, the type girls would wear to church. She was scribbling on the wall with a red crayon. At first, Pakunoda thought was drawing tiny butterflies. Upon closer look, she saw that they were numbers and formulas.

All she wanted was solve numerical problems for the rest of her life, grow old unmarried and childless, holed up in a room working on her maths. That plan never materialized because her family took note of her genius and obliged her to work for the Triad.

_Influence can take you farther than intelligence ever will._

After what seemed like hours, she snapped back to the present time. Open-ended questions always drained her. Nobunaga gave her a concerned look; he knew it was time to take leave of their guest. While she was busy sifting through Beth's memories, he tried to put the hostage at ease with light chatter and jokes. He could mollify a raging bull, but he was aware that his efforts did little to remedy Beth's apprehension. Which was too bad because he did like her. She seemed like a simple yet sensible woman. He might bargain with the Spiders for her after the mission was done.

"Alright, I guess that's it for now. See? That wasn't so scary." He flashed her his biggest smile. "We'll see you tomorrow."

When they shut the door, Beth estimated that she had been there for 12 hours, 27 minutes and 39.6 seconds. That had been her only meal for the day and she must have consumed approximately 112 milligrams of sodium, 5 grams of sugar and 10 grams of protein. That would be enough to fuel her for another 10 hours, if she didn't expend much energy, after which she'd grow hungry again. She hoped Nobunaga liked her enough to bring her breakfast the following morning. She should be more responsive to his conversation next time.

She could only shrug at her present situation. The woman who sleeps with dogs gets fleas. To pass the time, she made mental calculations of the room's dimensions, and based on those figures, made estimates of the entire building's dimensions.


End file.
